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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  January 15, 2013 6:00am-8:00am PST

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whatever comes out of this particular round should not be the end of our issue. we should start with whatever we get, see how well that works. it will not solve all of our problems. there may be another mass shooting but we move in a direction that gets us further away from where we are now. >> it would be interesting to think about congress in terms of solutions as opposed to who won, who lost, because we really frame it as they won and said something, could they win? they're not going to raise that because they can't win as opposed to a team together trying to make -- >> it's hard -- >> it takes the public to drive that though, it boils down to public culture. >> on the winning and losing on lance armstrong, there is honor in running a clean race even if you don't win. >> more lawyers involved always. "starting point" tomorrow,
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congresswoman tammy duckworth will join us. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello joins us right now. stories in "the newsroom" lance armstrong reportedly admits to oprah he cheated and that may not be the most painful part of his confession. veterans wanted. walmart has a new plan that could give thousands of veterans a job. plus this -- >> for over 125 years we've been bringing people together. today we'd like people to come together on something that concerns all of us, obesity, the long-term health of our families and the country is at stake. >> coca-cola is pushed to reduce obesity, a commercial aimed at ending the issue of this generation. is it really damage control as some critics are charging? facebook is revealing a big secret. the only view is on the invitation to the media, come see what we're building.
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what it might be, in a bit. plus. it's going to be like that, huh? ahh, someone wants to play. >> trying to keep up with the old guy. >> is that your real hair? >> a new nike face to the stroke of $250 million. "newsroom" starts now. good morning, thank you so much for being with us. i'm carol costello. we begin with lance armstrong and one of the most remarkable stories in sports, beat cancer, reinvented cycling and rewrote the record books. based on various reports with oprah winfrey he was cheating the whole time and lying to all of us. this is the video of the four seasons in austin, texas, lots of questions this morning as to what exactly was said during that interview, namely how did armstrong reportedly admit to doping, something he has flatly
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denied for years? >> i would say he did not come clean in the manner that i expected. it was surprising to me. i would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. i had prepared, i had read the recent decision, i watched all of scott pelley's report, "60 minutes" report, i read "seven deadly sins" i read "l.a. confidential" david walsh's books. i had prepared like it was a college exam, and walked into the room with 112 questions and in a two and a half hour interview, i asked most of those questions or at least as many of those questions as i could, but i feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was
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ready. i didn't get all the questions asked, but i think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world have been waiting to hear were answered and certainly answered i can only say i was satisfied by the answers. >> wow. cnn's ed lavandera has followed armstrong for years and joins us from austin, the hometown of the disgraced superstar and what more do you know about the oprah interview? >> reporter: well i think i was listening to what oprah said a little while ago on the "cbs this morning" show and the way she answered some of these questions she was asked at one point if lance armstrong was contrite and she simply just said she would let people make up their own minds on that. i think it leaves a lot of questions open as to exactly to what extent lance armstrong will confess and what exactly is he going to be saying along the way. there have been reports leading up to this interview suggesting that lance armstrong is trying
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to get his punishment reduced and to compete in triathlons and running events which he's wanted to do but that's only done to the extent he helps investigators in other doping investigations, so he's been accused of essentially running the most sophisticated doping operation in the history of sports, according to the u.s. anti-doping agency, so to what extent will he help them? those are some very tense relationships that have existed between that agency and lance armstrong's team for many years and despite all that, what kind of credibility will he have for years and years he has denied the drug use, what kind of credibility will he have with investigators once he starts giving them the information they're asking about and will he get into that information with oprah winfrey? we still have many questions what extent lance armstrong conguessed and who is he
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accusing of helping him along the way. >> she asked him 112 questions we'll see. the oprah interview doesn't air until thursday but the public condemnation has been swift and strong. what about in his hometown, how do people feel about armstrong? >> reporter: well this has been pretty mixed. this is also a place we're in a place called mellow johnny's, a bike shop that lance armstrong co-owned, a friendly place to him over the years, this is in the heart of downtown austin, a place where he's done many rides and helped people out along the way so this has been a friendly place for him, but when you go around town here in austin, there is a lot of exhaustion when it comes to lance armstrong and many people simply are tired of hearing about it, a lot of people felt that he's been let down, there's a prominent political figure here in austin, mark mckinnon who sits on the board of the livestrong
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foundation says lance armstrong has to crawl through a lot of grass -- glass, not grass -- crawl through a lot of glass to make amends with people he's hurt along the way. >> mark mckinnon was on "early start" this morning and this is what he has to say specifically. >> it's been devastating but i'm glad that lance is coming forward. the thing i'm most concerned about is the foundation and the work we've done for cancer survivors people living through and with cancer. i'm encouraged people are sticking with the foundation. years ago, john, we decided to rebrand the lance armstrong foundation livestrong because we thought that someday something could happen, we wanted the foundation to live beyond one person. we wanted to live on its own and have its own brand and not be contingent on any one person
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including lance. >> some of the strongest denials were under oath but he's apparently not at risk for perjury charges because too many years have passed so his greatest challenge could be financial. not only are his endorsement deals dead he's in talks to return some of the reported $31 million in sponsorship money given to the team by the u.s. postal service. cnn's alison kosik is looking into that part of the story. >> reporter: good morning, carol, this involves in the tens of billions of dollars. the postal service has been pretty quiet about how much money it was spending to sponsor the cycling team but documents that espn and "the wall street journal" got a hold of show the usps spent about $32 million between 2001 and 2004. the post office is not commenting but it does say it's following the situation closely. not all the money went into armstrong's pockets. it was used to finance the team's operations, this comes at a time when the post office could certainly use the money, when you think about it, just a
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drop in the bucket for the post office, reported a loss of almost $16 billion last year, coral? >> just to make clear this wasn't taxpayer money the postal service used to fund this team, is that right? >> right, that's exactly right. >> just wanted to make that clear. nike and anheuser-busch have also come after armstrong. what about those endorsement deals? are they done and done? >> and that's a good question. as of yet nobody's come after him. if he does return the payments, carol, it would wind up being voluntary. he could certainly be pressured to return money to other sponsors especially when you look at the peak of his run of seven straight tour de france wins armstrong was taking in more than $17 million a year in sponsorship money and he continued to be a valuable spokesperson for in a key and anheuser bus-busch until the la scandal. anheuser-busch let his contract run out at the end of last year.
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>> alison kosik reporting live from new york this morning. on staten island another grim milestone in the devastation of superstorm sandy. city crews are tearing down the first of 300 homes damaged beyond repair. the middle aged residents who watched part of their childhood disappear. >> devastating. i'm devastated. i'm heartbroken for my sisters, for my mom who has got no place to come back to. >> i'm not good with this. this is my childhood. i moved in here at 4 years old. i grew up in this neighborhood. >> today on capitol hill the house takes up the remaining $51 billion of sandy relief aid but, as you might expect, the vote will not happen without a fight. senior congressional correspondent dana bash is in washington with more. good morning, dana. >> good morning, carol, it will not happen without a fight but the headline is even according to those who are very much against passing this aid without
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offsetting it with other spending cuts is that they do believe it will pass at the end of the day and end up at the president's desk in short order but as you well said not without a fight and the fight is over offsetting it with spending cuts. mick mulvaney is a conservative republican, he has an amendment that will be allowed for a vote on the house floor that does cut some spending. listen to what he told soledad o'brien this morning. >> well, as of right now it's not paid for. i'm not one of those folks in the republican party, and there are members of my party who think that this is not a proper function of the government. i happen to disagree. i've lived through hurricanes and floods myself, i think this is a proper and appropriate function of the government. my difficulty with it, it is simply not paid for, we're borrowing this additional money to do this and i just think that's wrong. >> what his amendment would do would cut $17 billion in spending across the board in every sector of the government
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including defense, including vets. i was talking to somebody on capitol hill who said that amount of money is the entire operating budget, akin to the entire operating budget of the agriculture department. we do not think it will pass but it really gives a sense of why the speaker got himself in so much trouble by pulling this before the night of new year's day, because of this very reason, he knew there were a number of republicans who were very upset about passing any new government spending without cutting it elsewhere and it's going to play out on the house floor today. >> we're going to talk more about this later. dana bash reporting live from capitol hill today. coca-cola is defending it self against charges it makes america fat. it acknowledges obese sit the issue of this generation and vowing to come together to fight the fat. ♪ i'd like to teach the world to sing ♪ ♪ sing with me ♪ in perfect harmony
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>> it's a far cry from the feel good '70s feel good coca-cola commercial. >> we'd like people to come together on something that concerns all of us, obesity. >> critics say today's new ad is not about love and harmony but about damage control. the ad debuted monday night. -- >> as the nation's leading beverage company we can play an important role. >> this is an attempt to limit the amount of sodas americans drink. you remember mayor bloomberg's successful attempt to reduce drinks to 16 ounces. >> everybody is wringing their hands we have to do something. you can still buy large bottles in stores but in a restaurant, 16 ounces is the maximum that they would be able to serve in one cup. >> reporter: the new ad is not the first time we've seen fighting back. in 2010 part of president obama's signature health care plan be paid for in part with money from a sugary drink excise
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tax. the big soda industry lobbying arm, the american beverage association promptly spent $7 billion in a nationwide ad campaign to prevent that from happening. >> we spent money to put the voice of the people on the air, most of that goes for paid media. we were counseled by smart people in congress that this in some quarters might be a viable idea because the pressure for funding was so enormous, rightly so and you couldn't take anything for granted. >> reporter: their lobbying effort paid off, there is no federal tax on sugary drinks. fast forward to today, the centers for disease control says more and more americans are drinking the stuff. the center for science and the public interest, a non-profit consumer advocacy group says sugary drinks are the number one source of calories in the american diet. they put out their famous version of the coca-cola bear
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called the real bear. ♪ sugar, sugar, so good, so good, sugar ♪ >> coca-cola said "obesity is complex and requires partnership and collaboration to help solve it. we have an important role to play in the effort to find solutions that work for everybody." let's bring in our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. so i know it's a tough topic. coke says it can play an important role in america's fight against obesity, it says it's decreased the calories in its products. in middle schools it sells juices instead of cans of coke. it says it's doing its part. what's the big deal? leave us alone? >> i think that's part of it. there's a fear of regulation, we've seen it, you've talked about it in your piece from what mayor bloomberg is doing, the center for science and public interest has been very critical of what coke and other soft drink companies have done. it's not just coke. coke is kind of a big target i guess in many ways, but if you look at schools for example, an
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area that a lot of folks, including the cspi, the clinton foundation, they've been able they say to reduce calories from their products in schools by 90%, using fewer of these sugary drinks and replacing them more with water, 180 of their 650 beverages are low calorie or no calorie. is this because they really are trying to do their part or they want to continue to run a successful company? i guess it depends on how cynical are you. >> that's right, but i see you have these teaspoons with sugar. >> i want to point this out, people don't always get this right. you look at a can a lot of people can't guess how many calories are in a can, it's 140 calories. >> not bad. >> depends on your perspective, you're drinking them all day long it's a lot more calories but this much sugar, roughly nine teaspoons of sugar. seems like a lot of sugar but again is this a once in a while sort of thing or is this
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something you're doing all the time, which is what mayor bloomberg talked about, even the center for science and public doctor is not saying get rid of sugary drinks all together. lot of this is consumption. >> i think people don't realize how much sugar is in products like coke. i was in the grocery store last weekend, behind this guy buying skim milk and then heavyduty coca-cola. it's like there's like a conundrum here. it's strange. >> one thing i think that comes out relative from a scientific perspective is getting your sugar in a drink how worse than other forms, be it fruit and foods and the evidence seems to be mounting the sugar and the calories from the served drink is worse, it absorbs it quickly, fruit and fiber, slow down the absorption. that's more physiology, that seems to matter. because we get so many more calories in this fashion that is some say part of the problem but overall the amount of sugary drinks, the amount of sugar from
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our drinks has gone down while obesity has gone out. there's a lot of sugar we eat every day we don't realize. you put it out like this with a drink, sauces, other foods, people need to pay attention to that. >> dr. sanjay gupta, thanks so much. a british airways worker sues when she says she was sent home for wearing a cross. top european court sides with her. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula
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they're taking the fight to you as both sides try to sell their point of view. president obama warning about what could happen if that debt limit is not raised. >> if congressional republicans refuse to pay america's bills on time, social security checks, and veterans benefits will be delayed. we might not be able to pay our troops or contracts with small business owners. investors around the world will ask if the united states of america a safe bet. >> the republican house speaker john boehner responding immediately to the president's remarks issuing a statement that read "the american people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time. the consequences of failing to increase the debt ceiling are real, but so, too, are the consequences of allowing our spending problem to go unresolved." joining us is amy kremer, chairwoman of the tea party express.
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thanks for coming in this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> safe bet you're against raising the debt ceiling without spending cuts. >> the problem is the spending cuts never come. the republicans find themselves in the situation all the time t happened with reagan and bush 41 and with the sequester, it's been put off for two months, the spending cuts never come and we cannot continue down this path with over $16 trillion in debt, and a deficit of $1.4 trillion to $1.6 trillion per year. we're spending $1.6 million per year than we're bringing in. >> you've accused the president of using scare tactics. what do you mean by that? do you think he's lying about what could happen? >> the thing is, you know what, first of all it's not congress that determines if we default. it's the treasury so i guess that would be secretary timothy geithner if he's still there. it would be the treasury that would decide but we have enough money to pay the interest on our debt, i believe it's $2.5 trillion comes into the treasury every year. that's enough money to pay the
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interest on the debt. we're not going to cut off payments to seniors on their social security and medicare, and then the military -- >> you saw what happened the last time when we argued about the debt ceiling. our credit rating was downgraded. that is partisan gridlock. >> that is a massive amount of debt. >> it was because of partisan gridlock. >> i disagree. >> and congress not being able to get its act together. we've seen what can happen. >> congress needs to get their act together but the president understood the debt that we had when he ran for office. he promised to pay down the deficit at least half in his first term. the first two years of his first term he had a democratic congress house and senate. he could have done anything he wanted. instead he put through an $800 billion stimulus bill and a $1.7 trillion obama care. if he wasn't going to address it then, when is he going to address it?
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he is essentially holding congress hostage right now and the american people with these scare tactics. >> okay, newt gingrich addressed this whole issue on "cbs this morning" and i'll read you what he said. "it isn't a smart fight for congressional republicans to pick, because in the end, it's a threat they can't sustain. no one is going to default, no one will allow the united states to not pay its bills, no one is going to accept the economic costs. it rallies the entire business community to the president's side." so even newt gingrich says this isn't a wise fight to pick. you may feel strongly about spending cuts but this isn't the right time to fight. >> when is the right time? when is the right time? because the spending cuts never come. you know what? it's not going to be easy, but both parties need to get their act together and go to the table and say we have to rein in this out of control spending. we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem and the american people are realizing that. >> the american people reelected
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president obama which says to me the majority of americans don't want smaller government, don't want huge spending cuts. they want congress to work together to get its act together and get the economy moving. >> the american people also elected another house of representatives, a republican house of representatives, and that is our most direct form of representation in the federal government, the house of representatives, and they're the ones that control the purse strings. we have to do something. this isn't -- the thing is this is not about party politics. this is about the solvency of this country, it is about this country being the greatest nation on earth. it's our greatest threat to our national security. >> some people would say it is about party politics and some people, frankly, blame the tea party for this terrible gridlock in the house of representatives. there's a tea party group in south florida that's going to change its name to not include the tea party because the public reacts so negatively to that title now. >> i think that's because we have been, i mean just given a
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bad rap. all we're about is fiscal responsibility. we're not about social issues. all we want is washington to live within their means, just like families and businesses do across america every day. that's all we want, nothing else. if they could get their act together and do that, things would get better but right now there's no confidence in washington, no one is putting any money in their companies or hiring people because there's no confidence. >> amy kremer thank you for coming in. >> thanks for having hme. the one-time hero of cycling opens up to oprah on performance enhancing drugs. can lance armstrong redeem himself? it's our talk back question today. what are you doing?
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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, can lance armstrong redeem himself? how far have the mighty fallen? lance armstrong has reportedly confessed to oprah he took performance-enhassing drugs, even his world famous charity livestrong is tainted, the one-time hero branded a liar. as the "new york post" puts it, "liestrong" that's how lance armstrong will go down in history. let's look at his prickly denials. >> how many times do i have to say it? >> i'm trying to make sure your testimony is clear. >> if it can't be any clearer than i've never taken drugs than incidents like that could never happen. >> okay. >> how clear is that. >> i've said it for seven years, longer than seven years. i have never doped. >> and today armstrong's redemption tour starts thursday when oprah airs her interview with a tearful lance, live
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streamed around the world, expect to hear lots of "i'm sorry." many are saying, yeah, right. armstrong's coming clean because he wants to qualify for competitions in the few. the "l.a. times" dubbed it the "tour de fraud" accusing him for playing the celebrity card for sympathy instead of fessing up like a man but oprah on cbs defended her interview saying, quote -- actually let's listen. >> i feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready. i didn't get all the questions asked, but i think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world have been waiting to hear were answered and certainly answered, i can only say i was satisfied by the answer. >> oprah said in terms of exposure, it's the biggest interview she has ever done for lance armstrong it certainly is. can lance armstrong redeem
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himself? facebook.com/carolcnn, or tweet me @carolcnn. i'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other,
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which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. good morning. thank you for being with us. i'm carol costello. 31 minutes past the hour, opening on wall street, retail numbers were up from what analysts predicted for december. it was auto sales up. ringing the bell executives from the united states commodity funds. secretary of state hillary clinton will testify next wednesday about the september terror attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya.
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as you know, that attack killed four americans including the u.s. ambassador. four state department officials have been disciplined after an independent review revealed leadership failures within the state department. after nearly seven years of not speaking during oral argument clarence thomas finally breaks his silence, made a joke about lawyers from yale and their colleagues. six current members of the court went to harvard, alito, sonia sotomayor. gun violence survivors and gun control advocates plan to hold a rally in just about 90 minutes outside a walmart in danbury, connecticut, not far from newtown, the scene of last month's mass shooting. they'll deliver a petition from survivors asking walmart to honor its 2004 pledge to stop selling assault weapons and munitions in their stores
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nationwide. my next guest has seen the impact of gun violence up close, ron barber was a staff member for former arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords who was shot in a campaign appearance two years ago. barber was injured in the shooting and later asked by giffords to run in a special election for her seat after she resigned. he won and was sworn in last summer. congressman barber joins me now, welcome. >> good morning, nice to be with you. >> we're happy you're here. we've heard a lot about states moving forward with gun control measures but at the federal level it seems like a tough sell. harry reid doubts such a measure to ban assault weapons would get through the house. what does that mean for national gun control laws? are we at a stalemate? >> i don't believe we are. it comes down to what are we going to be able to get bipartisan support for in the
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congress? and there are three things that i believe are possible to get across the aisle support. my major focus has been since january 8th on mental health services and awareness and i'll be dropping a bill today that will move in that direction called the mental health first aid act so that's one thing that i believe is possible. there seems to be some cross unanimity across the aisle on mental health services and my bill will hopefully be one of the first steps in that direction. >> you met with vice president biden as part of a task force convened by the president. the vice president was supposed to deliver his recommendations today to the president, but he delayed that. why the holdup? >> i'm not sure i could tell you why the holdup. i know that when we met yesterday, the task force that i'm a member of, vice chair of, the prevention of gun violence task force in the house, we met with vice president and three cabinet secretaries for two and
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a half hours yesterday to present our thinking and our ideas about how we might get a handle on and hopefully reduce particularly mass shootings in our country. i proposed the mental health first aid act and i believe that was well received. we'll see if it comes into the final packet. there are two other things i think we can possibly get bipartisan support for, universal background checks particularly at gun shows where people who are not supposed to have guns under the law can go in without a background check and get those guns, felons and people who are endanger to their selves or others with mental illness and the third which is very personal for me is trying to reduce the amount of bullets that can be carried in a magazine. we were shot with a glock, a pistol that had 30 bullets in a magazine and one more in the chamber and in 45 seconds or less, 19 people were down and 6 died. i believe we can get some consensus to reduce the size of
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magazines to give people a chance to get away, to intercept, to intervene with the shooter, get police there, certainly cut down on the number of people who were killed and wounded in tucson, and i believe in connecticut as well. >> we just had a graphic up just reaffirming what you said about some of the recommendations, the task force will make to president obama. president obama said in a speech yesterday he's ready to issue an executive order concerning gun control. are you in favor of that? >> well first of all i'd have to see what the executive order that the president is talking about, before i could make a judgment as to whether i would support it or not. i believe though generally speaking that any changes that are going to impact the public and public policy ought to be made through the congressional process, where we can have hearings, we can have floor debate and we can actually enact laws and i believe the most serious aspects of this issue are going to be resolved that
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way, not by executive order so i would have to wait and see what the president proposes but i generally favor going through the congressional process which is how our government was designed to work. >> i'm just curious and it's a last question. what kind of law would you object to that might be executed by the president through an executive order? >> i don't know what his breadth of how powers are really. talk about perhaps having to do with gathering data, background checks but i really believe in order to do anything significant we have to pass laws and the three that i'm concerned about are mental health, background checks, universal background checks and reducing the capacity for weapons that can shoot so many people in a short period of time. >> arizona congressman ron barber, thank you so much. >> thank you for having me this morning. i appreciate it. we've got new information on why a coroner changed the
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controversial cause of death, actually a coroner's ruling, he changed the cause of death for natalie wood so the mystery remains. we'll talk about that. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. woman: we're helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people.
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with a weekend getaway. save up to forty percent on all weekend hotel stays. book by january thirty first at hiltonanyweekend.com. a controversial story out of london. british airways worker was sent
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home from her job for wearing a cross. top european court said she was the target of religious discrimination. zain verjee is in london to tell us more. good morning. >> good morning to you, carol. her name is nadia ueda, she was sitting at a british airways desk and had a big crucifix around her neck and a chain and told she had to be transferred to another job so she said excuse me, wait a minute, this is discrimination. she filed and filed and filed here in the uk and her case was heard and then dismissed over and over again. i think it was rejected like six times. anyway, she persisted, she went to the european human rights court and they basically were weighing what b.a.'s perception of its corporate image should be or versus her own right and desire to wear any kind of religious artifact that she wanted to. anyway they said and they ruled and this was significant because it was the first time in a case like this something had happened that she was right, so she won, and upon hearing of her victory
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she said, "thank you, jesus." carol? >> the ruling's not legally binding, is it? >> yeah, that's what's interesting about this. the european court made this ruling but it's not essentially legally binding, so they can't basically order the uk courts to say implement our ruling but by the same token the uk, because they support the european courts, can't just decide eh, we don't care what you said and just ignore it, so they have to carry it out to some extent. b.a. has already changed its policies, people can wear charitable artifacts and religious artifacts as well. >> zain verjee thanks so much. we're back in a minute opinion
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. a new ten-page supplement has been attached to natalie woods' 1981 autopsy report. the new explosive information led the coroner to amend the controversial cause of death. we get the latest from a.j. hammer. >> she had bruises and this is apparently what led the medical examiner to change the cause of death from accidental drowning to drowning and other undetermined factors. the change was made public last summer, we were talking about it then but we're finding out the reasons behind the decision. the medical examiner specifically sighted fresh bruises in woods' right forearm and left wrist and scratch on her neck as evidence there are unanswered questions about her 1981 drowning death. the medical examinercited the lack of a life jacket and
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suicide note to call the circumstances of the death as not clearly established and the speculation has been a topic since she died. she was on a yacht with her husband robert wagner and christopher wallingen and disappeared and how her body wound up in the water a mile from the boat remains a mystery carol i am certain will probably continue to fascinate people for decades to come. it's a story that does not go away. >> i was just going to say, it answers some questions but certainly not all. >> i think it raises a whole lot more, a lot of things that people have speculated about over the years and there have been a lot of people who paid close attention to this, we're talking of what some 30 years now. >> a.j. hammer, thanks so much. >> you got it. there are thousands of veterans looking for work and now walmart wants them to join the team, but there's a catch.
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are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool. only from progressive.
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48 minutes past the hour. for the first time in nearly two months president george h.w. bush is waking up at home today. he was released yesterday from a houston hospital where he had been treated for a bronchitis related cough and other health issues. he is 88 years old. florida a&m university will officially announce the hiring of a new band director today, famu's entire band was suspended in the wake of the november 2011 hazing death of drum major robert champion. facebook is building a mystery and many feel it might be the much rumored facebook phone. the social giant invited the media to its ed quarters with an invitation that read "come and see what we're building." mark zuckerberg recently shut down the idea of a phone so we'll see. gm unveils its first battery powered luxury car, the cadillac elr. the battery driven coupe is
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based on the chevrolet volt. the world's largest retailer isworld's largest real tail wants to hire any veteran who wants a job, but there's a catch. alison kosik is in new york. >> reporter: yes, walmart is saying it will hire any veteran who wants a job. the two stipulations is the veterans have had to a left the military in the previous year and could not have received a dishonorable discharge. that will be a five year initiative. walmart is estimating it will kind up hiring 100,000 veterans over that time. it represents more than 13% of all unemployed veterans. it even got recognition from first lady michelle obama who has campaigned for this issue that veterans should be hired. other companies are veteran friendly and they make note of it in their job postings, that they make a commitment to hiring returning veterans. you look at the unemployment
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rate, it's falling at a pretty good clip for veterans. the only group that has a rate before the national average is veterans of the most recent wars, so-called gulf era ii wars in iraq and afghanistan. unemployment in that group was about 13% a year ago. about 225,000 remain unemployed. so hopefully this new walmart program could be a big dent in that number. the program launches on may 27th, memorial day. >> those veterans of the other wa wars are probably retired now, so 10% is still ate fr pretty b number. thank you very much. can lance armstrong redeem himself? facebook.com/carolcnn. as you . would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients.
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talk back question. can lance armstrong redeem himself. steve says it's one thin to have cheated and come clean. it's entirely another to only come clean once the proof is in the offering. and core ary, hell, yeah, i was never mad at him. anything, i applaud him. america is looking at this whole thing the wrong way. ain't it interesting how his condition with cancer suddenly improved when he started taking human growth hormone. this from dan, he raised over $500 million for cancer research. doesn't that count for anything? and from mark, he can't change
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the paths, but he can go forward and accomplish great things. just ask bill clinton. i have low testosterone. there, i said it. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me.
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[ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% (testosterone gel). the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy, increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or signs in a woman, which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are or may become pregnant or are breastfeeding, should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. so...what do men do when a number's too low? turn it up! [ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal.
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talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%. lance armstrong has reversed course. reports say armstrong has admitted to using steroids to
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advance his career. the confession comes in an interview with oprah winfrey set to air on her network thursday night. we still don't know the details of armstrong's interview, but a source tells cnn armstrong might pay back part of the money he received from the u.s. postal service. it sponsored the cyclist and his team when armstrong won six of his tour de france titles. espn anchor stewart scott has tweeted that his cancer has returned. he'll get chemo every two week but continue to work. scott also praised livestrong for its support of cancer patients. rory mcilroy the highest paid young athlete in the world. that's what forbes magazine says. he signed a multiyear contract with nike. he could earn between $200 million and $250 million a year. mcelroy says the money won't add any pressure. >> the most pressure i feel is the pressure that i put on
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myself. and i know if i live up to my own expectations, then i'll more than live up to everyone else's. so i just want to play as well as i can and hopefully that translates if to tournament wins and ultimately more major wins. >> mikey announcement came in abu dhabi will mcelroy will play with tiger woods. tivoing is so 2012. kaepernicking is now trending. san francisco quarterback colin kaepernick struck a touchdown pose in saturday's playoff game against green bay and now fans are doing it and tweeting the pics. for the uninitiated, kaepernicking involves flexingi. the next hour of cnn newsroom begins right now. stories we're watching. lance armstrong reportedly comes
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clean and oprah winfrey is fascinated. >> i would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. >> oprah additiodishes about he sit-down with lance armstrong. in six days, the president will take the oath of office and with him a piece of history from martin luther king jr. teachers refuse to give their students a standardized test. why they say there's no benefit. newsroom starts now. good morning. thank you so much for joining us. i'm carol costello. we begin with lance armstrong and one of the most remarkable sports stories in history. he beat cancer, reinvented cycling and rewrote the record books. and now based on armstrong's
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interview with oprah winfrey, he was cheating the whole time and lying to the nation. this is video of where the interview happened with oprah at the four seasons in austin, texas. win friday told cbs this morning the interview will air across two nights, thursday and friday. win friday declined to characterize armstrong's statement saying she'd prefer for viewers to make up their own minds. she said during the 2 1/2 hour interview, she asked most of 112 questions. >> i would say there were a couple of times where he was emotional, but emotional doesn't begin to describe the intensity or the difficulty that i think that he experienced in talking about some of these things. i would say, you know, all the people who are wondering if he actually goes there and answers, to answer your question that you asked earlier, charlie, charlie
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and nora and gayle, i think that you will come away to understanding that he brought it. he really did. >> if we're sitting down with oprah, armstrong met with the staff of his cancer foundation livestrong. >> i think he has a lot of apologies, i think he has to crawl over a lot of broken glass and drag the sack cloth. but i think that the one thing that they can't take away from him is his cancer survivorship. and he does that story, gives great hope to millions of people like my wife who lived through it, and so there's a lot of good work that he can continue to do there if he's willing to being ary sacrifice and willing to serve a cause greater than himself. >> as you know, armstrong's confession flies in the face of what he has said publicly for years. back in 2005, lance armstrong went to court against an insurance company that refused to pay him performance bonuses. armstrong was deposed and in his testimony, he repeatedly denied
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doping and blood transfusions. here's part of that testimony taken from an australian tv documentary. >> so you think -- is it your testimony mr. andrew was also lying when he said that he heard you say those things regarding your priorities? >> 100%. but i feel for him. >> what do you mean by that? >> i think he's trying to back up his old lady. >> it's not that you don't remember whether the indiana hospital room incident occurred. it affirmatively did not take place? >> how could it have taken place when i've never taken performance enhancing drugs? >> that was my point. it's simply you don't recall. >> how many times do i have to say it? >> just trying to make sure your testimony is clear. >> if it can't be any clearer that i've never taken drug, then will incidents like that could never have happened.
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how clear is that? >> i think it's clear. can i ask you some additional questions to follow ? >> sure. >> you have never taken any performance enhancing drug in connection with your cycling career? >> correct. >> and that would include any substance that's ever been banned, is that fair to say? >> correct. >> why don't you give me the definition of what you're using. what would that include? >> well, it would include anything on the banned list. >> for example, would that include that you've never used use own blood for doping purposes? >> that would be banned. >> i'm not trying toage at a time you. just trying to make sure your testimony is clear. >> okay. >> i understand that you find allegations regarding that to beabe age t a agitating but i'm not trying to
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assault you. >> fair enough. in light of what we know now, lance armstrong was flat outlying as he's done for the past deck side. jeff gardere joins us on the phone from los angeles. we thought it was important to talk to you today because it's difficult to understand how someone can look into someone's eyes or take an oath to tell the truth or look in to the lens of a camera and simply lie. >> carol, people do it all the time. and the way that they can do it, the way that they justify it in their own minds, is by actually starting to believe what they say. they actually suppress the information. they tell themselves consciously that they are going to forget it and then at some point subconsciously they do forget the fact that they are lying. and that's why they ccan do it with such conviction. >> is it also a case of, hey,
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every else is doing it, i have to do it to win, people probably won't understand that, so i can't tell them the truth? >> well, that's a defense mechanism that we call rationalization. we know that lance armstrong was doping at a time when many people were doping. so he puts it together in his mind if everyone else was doing it, then cancels out that i was doing it and, therefore, i wasn't doing it. that's the mind game that people play with themselves. but that's why we recognize these defense mechanisms as being almost pathological because they're original i had, intense and after a while, they don't work. >> so investigators sayi had, intense and after a while, they don't work. >> so investigators say not only was he doping, but he was forcing other team members to dope and to lie about it and to lie about him. what does this tell but lance armstrong as a person.
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>> we tend to see, and i'm notice saying he is one of these persons, but we tend to see that sometimes people with personality disorders who may be narcicisstic, they don't change themselves in order to fit the world. they change the world to fit who they are. and certainly we see by getting people around him to be part of that particular picture, that's a way of not taking responsibility. it's very, very manipulative and that's something that-will-an image that he'll have to change of lying, of being manipulative, certainly of being belligerent, narcicisstic. so he has a long road ahead of him in rehabilitating his image. t i do believe that he can do it. he has done some amazing things, including beating cancer. >> dr. jeff gardere, thanks so much for sharing. we appreciate it. fascinati fascinating.
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>> always a pleasure. thank you. all right. let's talk about politics. this just into the cnn newsroom. chuck hagel wins over a major critic in his nomination for defense secretary. at this very moment, a key democratic senator is announcing his support for this embattled nominee. senior congressional correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill. and tell us why this is so important to hagel's nomination. >> this is important because the former senator chuck hagel certainly has been in a lot of trouble and this support from chuck schumer, who is the number three democrat in the senate, makes it pretty likely that he is going to get confirmed. not a sure thing, but it makes it a lot more likely. let me read you a part of what chuck schumer said in a statement. he said based on several key assurances, i'm currently prepared to vote for his confirmation. i encourage my senate colleagues who have shared my previous concerns to also support him. now, the background here is that the two men met for 90 minutes yesterday to discuss the concerns. and the concerns that senator
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schumer has or had are really similar to what many current senators have. those that have concerns. on his position on israel, on his position in the past on iran specifically opposing sanctions. and for some unfortunate remarks that he made with regard to the jewish lobby and also gay americans. on all of those, a pretty lengthy statement that senator schumer released, and he said that he went through in this 90 minute discussion with senator hagel and he feels that he has endorsed or at least supports now the president's position on iran and israel for example and he made apologies for comments he made on the jewish lobby and gays. and so this is very significant because senator schumer, with him he will probably bring some other members. but also if it went the other way, carol, if senator schumer, the number three democrat, were to say i'm not going to support him, it would effectively be over for chuck hagel. it was kind of hard to see that happening based on the relationship schumer
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has with the white house. he'll walk the president down to put his hand on the bible and take the second oath. but still this is a signature move that he's making. shy also note that barbara boxer, who is another person who had concern, democrat who had concerns about the former republican senator, also says that she'll support him now. >> all right. dana bash, stick around, because we'll take our viewers to the floor of the house where members of the house of representatives are now reading the u.s. constitution. let's listen for a bit. >> no person shall be a senator who have not have attained the age of 30 years and been nine years a citizen of the united states and who shall not when elected be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen. >> okay. so -- >> i yield to the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. >> as you can see, this is going to take a long time. 84 minutes to be exact.
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that's what it took in 2011. conservatives say this is a reminder of our founding principles. critics call it a stunt and a waste of 84 minutes. so, dana, why are they doing this this year? is there any special reason? i can maybe kind of guess what that might be. >> well, the house republicans, when they took over the majority, they sort of started this tradition which i guess if you do it twice it's officially a tradition, back in 2011, the answer is that they want to symbolize that they want to stick to as much of the constitutional principles as possible. because a lot of the members, many of whom you see actually right now you see a democrat in fact one of the democratic leefrd leaders, stanley hoyer, many are relatively new members from the republican side and they say they were elected to try to redirect legislation to try to
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be more -- adhere more to what the founding fathers supported. of course i think what you're alluding to there is one of the amendments that is very much in the news, the second amendment with regard to guns. there have been a lot of questions who will read the second amendment on the floor. we don't know yet. because what's happening right now is pretty much for the most part a first come first serve basis. people are sitting there, lined up and they're reading parts it and when they get to the amendment, everyone will at least get part or an entire amendment. one thing i want to share with you which i think is noteworthy, two years ago when they did this, gabby giffords read the first amendment, of course which what gives us our freedom to do our job and many other people, the right to free speech. a few minutes after she did that, i happened to be talking to her and she was talking about how proud she was to do that. and it just so happens that about 12 hours later, she went back to arizona and that's when she was shot. so it was one of the last things that she did on the house floor before she was shot. >> okay.
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so as our elected representatives read the constitution and promise to adhere to it, will they then sit down and pass major legislation today? >> they will likely. and that will be about $51 billion in disaster relieve for victims of sandy mostly in new york and new jersey but pennsylvania and other places. but that won't be before a long fight. we'll see a pretty big tussle on the house floor, particularly from conservatives who don't think that this should be any new spending, even in disasters should be done without offsetting it elsewhere. so we'll see a vote on that probably not pass, but we'll still see the kind of doing and froing that has led to a lot of the big fights on the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling that conservatives who are in the majority want to cut federal spending and they'll do it however they need to. >> understood. dana bash, thanks so much. practice makes perfect even on the steps of the u.s. capitol.
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rehearsals have been under way complete with stand-ins for the first family. president obama will take his oath twice. on sunday, january 20th, he'll use first lady michelle obama's family bible. and on monday during the public ceremony, he'll use two other bibles. one of them belonged to president lincoln. it's the same one will be used in 2009 during the inauguration. the second bible belongs to civil rights leader dr. martin luther king jr. king's son joins me now from washington. we're so glad you're here. >> thank you. i'm honored to be here today. >> you wrote an op-ed, even your description of the bible is touching. you say it's faded and some of the pages are torn. tell us how your father, dr. king, used that bible. >> well, number one, we found that when he was pastoring or preparing a sermon, his first
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sermon at the dexter avenue memorial baptist church, that he actually had markings where he actually designated certain things within the bible. we know that he traveled with the bible, derived inspiration from it. it certainly is worn and at tattered. but i think that shows how much he used it. >> you say you never thought the bible would be used again. why? >> you certainly could never imagine that it would be used in the capacity that it is going to be used on monday as the president accepts his oath of office which is quite phenomenal. we had it on display at the king center so that when people come, they can see it and it certainly will be returned to the center after the ceremony. but we never could have envisioned this. >> so i'll ask you this question. what would this day and the use of dr. king's bible side by side with president lincoln's bible,
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i guess they'll be on top of one another, i don't know, what would this symbolize for your father? go >> my father, this is a significant year for anniversaries of the modern civil rights movement. certainly when you look at the 45th anniversary of his passing or the sanitation work strike, the 45th anniversary of the poor people's campaign, 50th anniversary of the letter from the birmingham jail writing and 50th anniversary of the march on washington just to name a few. so what i hope this does is inspires all of us, obviously the president is consistently inspired by president lincoln, but hopefully dad's bible would inspire the president and the nation to work to really realize the dream. we have not realized the dream yet. aspects of the dream have been realized, but not the entire dream. >> and i assume you will be at the inauguration. >> yes, i plan to be here.
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>> so as president obama puts his hand on your fairther's bib, how will that riz natuesonate f? >> search my wife and i will be here. and i hope our daughter can join us. it will be a chilling but very fulfilling moment. i know we'll be exhilarated. and again, my hope is that the nation is inspired. this time the nation needs a lot of inspiration. hopefully congress will be inspired for work to help the president achieve the vision that he has chartered for our nation. >> i think should you bring that bible in the the house of congress. but i loan so, too. today would have been dr. king's # 4th birthday. how will you remember your father today? >> well, later today when i trourn atlan return to event la, atlanta, i'll be going by his crypt and
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saying a word of prayer. his last birthday, he spent working planning for the are poor people's campaign that was to have taken place in may. he did not live to see that come to fruition. so on one hand, it's certainly unfortunate that today we are v. more poor people in our nation than we've ever had. but it also gives us an opportunity to begin anew, to work more diligently, to roll up our sleeves so we can address the issue. that issue. as well as issues around balance in our nation. and, you know, we look at the fact that there is a gun control debate. that is very positive. the hope is that our nation will move in the right direction on that issue. >> martin luther king iii, thank you so much for being with us this morning. she keeps you guessing. it's part of what you love about her. but your erectile dysfunction - you know, that could be a question of blood flow.
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i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. the hope is that our nation will
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now is your chance to talk back. the question this morning, can lance armstrong redeem himself? how far the might have i if a fallen. la armstrong has reportedly confessed to oprah he took performance enhancing drugs. the one time hero branded a liar. it's lie strong, that's how lance armstrong will go down in history, as a liar. let's take a moment to revisit his denials. >> i'm trying to make sure your testimony is clear. >> if it can't be any clearer that i've never taken drugs,
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then incidents like that could never happen. how clear is that? >> i said it for seven years. i've said it for longer than seven years. i've never doped. >> now armstrong's redemption tour starts thursday when oprah airs her interview with a fearful lance armstrong. expect to hear lots of i'm sorries. many are saying, yeah, right. armstrong is just coming clean because he wants to qualify for competitions in the if you want the "l.a. times" dubbed it the tour de fraud. but oprah on cbs this morning defended the interview. >> i feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready. i didn't get all the questions asked, but i think the most important questions and the answers that people asht world have been waiting to hear were answered and certainly
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answered -- i can only say i was satisfied by the answer. >> oprah said in terms xf possess sur exposure, it is the biggest interview for lance ashe's ever. our talk back question, can lance armstrong redeem himself. he's vowing to help stop gun violence in america even if he has to act on his own. but president obama's vow is angering at least one member of congress. he's threatening impeachment. i have low testosterone. there, i said it. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% (testosterone gel).
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the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy, increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or signs in a woman, which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are or may become pregnant or are breastfeeding, should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. so...what do men do when a number's too low? turn it up! [ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms.
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get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%. hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit.
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nearly six months ago, 12 were killed and 58 others wounded during a mass shooting at an aurora colorado movie theater. that same theater is reopening to the public this week. victims and their families have been invited to what the owner call as special evening of remembrance. and a free movie. 27-year-old petty officer john larrimer was one of the 12 victims shot and killed on july 20th. he died shielding his girlfriend from gunfire in that theater. his father, scott, is boycotting the reopening of the theater and he joins us from chicago. welcome, scott. >> good morning. >> first of all, how are you doing six months later?
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>> well, last week was kind of tough because of the preliminary hearings and we were getting daily briefings. some of the testimony was hea heartwarming or i should say heart rendering to say the least. it was pretty graphic. >> the suspect was going through that primary hearing in colorado. and at about the same time you get an invitation from the theater. and what did the invitation say? >> well, basically the invitation was for us to join them for some kind of a special movie throwing or visit. it wasn't we'll clear. personally, we're 1,000 miles away and this was the first time the theater had even tried to contact us. >> and you say you don't know what they mean by a special evening of remembrance. i'm sure it's gone through your mind, what could they mean by
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that? >> i have no idea what they have in mind. in fact they didn't contact us directly. they went through another organization to invite us. and the family, we got together and chatted about it and decided that it wasn't appropriate for us to attend. >> and you also suggested that other families of victims and other victims boycott this special evening. >> yeah, we talked a little with some of the other families and agreed that this was not really the best way to handle the situation. >> nigmight someone want to go k into that theater? what would you get out of that? >> tears mostly i'm afraid. it was pretty emotional time since july and we have been trying to put this in
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perspective. but it's been kind of stuff because we constantly have things coming up that would remind us of the situation, letters and preliminary hearings and things like that. so it's been kind of tough to try and put this in perspective. >> do you think they should continue to show movies in that theater? >> i'm not sure that it should be allowed to continue on, but on the other happenether hand, that it's appropriate to tear it down. i'm not sure where you would go with it after that. the event is done. the people have been hurt and we really need to try and put some kind of closure to this. >> scott, thank you so much for joining me this morning. >
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. good morning. thank you so much for joining us. it's just about 30 minutes past the hour. time to check our top story. hillary clinton will testify next wednesday about the september terror attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi libya. as you know, that attack killed four americans including the u.s. ambassador. four state department officials have been disciplined after an independent review of the attack revealed leadership failures within the state department. for the first time in nearly two months, president george h. were bush is waking up at home today. he was released yesterday from a houston hospital where he had been treated for a bronchitis related cause and other health issues. the former president is 88 years old. after nearly accept years of not speaking during oral arguments, justin clarence thomas breaks his silence. he did it on monday, made the joke about the confidence of lawyers from yale, his alma mater, and their harvard colleagues. six members of the current high court went to harvard.
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to politics now. one congressman is vowing to take action. his name is steve stockman from texas. he said i will seek to thwart this action by any nines necessary including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the white house, everyone filing articles of impeachment. so in essence he's threatening to impeach the president if he attempts to issue any gun controls law by executive order. joining me now are democratic strategist robert zimmerman and republican strategist anna navar navarro. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> an narks i'll start with you. congressman stockman says if the president is allowed to suspend
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constitutional rights on his own personal whims, our free republic has ceased to exist. how does this play with most of the party? >> well, look, i think there is some concern about how much he's trying to do through executive order. i would hope that the first reports would be to try to get legislation to try to work with congress. you know, there are two separate branchs of government, but they are fairly powerful each and every one of them and both of them need to work together if we are really to get anything of great significance done. of course i don't agree with the impeachment business. i think it is one congressman talking alwa talking a little bit out of attorney. i think if we focus on the gun policy, on things that everybody agrees on, and there are things that there is wide consensus on like background checks, like
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enforcing some of the current laws, then we can get some things done. but things like a ban on assault weapons will take legislation. >> go ahead, robert. >> we're not seeing wide consensus amongst the republican party. there certainly is wide consensus among the nation and the president speaking to the national concerns about the issue of the dangers of assault weapons, the need for much more aggressive back ground checks, sharing mental health records and the like. yet we fail to see any leadership from the republican party in terms of working with the president on this point. i would point out it concerns me when you listen to this congressman's ridiculous comments about impeachment, both parties we know have individuals in their parties that say ridiculous statements or engage in the freak show of politics. but it's important for the parties to step up and take them on. very frankly, i'm proud of the fact that my democratic party and officials have taken on
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individuals like oliver stone or dennis kucinich for saying statements that were beyond the realm of discussion. yet where are the republicans stepping up, taking on this congressman or taking on ann coulter or rush limbaugh for the freak show rhetoric they're engaging in? >> let's go back to the issue of executive order. i interviewed a democrat for arizona. he said he was not too excited about the president issuing executive orders either when it came to gun control. he would much rather that a law went through congress. so some democrats are strongly against the idea of executive order, too. >> i'll tell you something, as a democrat, i took on george w. bush for many of the executive orders he put in place. there's a real debate to be had. but first step is seeing what the executive orders are. right now he's talking about administrative steps. he's also talking about doing much more aggressive sharing of mental health information. and much more aggressive background checks.
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there's a place to be had for that debate about those points. >> harry reid weighed in on the potential assault weapons ban. here's what he told one las vegas tv station. >> let's be realistic. in the senate we'll do what we think can get through the house. i'm not going to be going through a bunch of these gyrations just to say we've done something. >> president obama really wants to reinstate the assault weapons ban. would you be in favor of that? >> i've talked to tdianne feinstein many times about this. is it something that can pass the senate? maybe. is it something that can pass the house? i doubt it. >> so even harry reid is not so confident that any substantive gun properly law will be able to pass in the house. so why not an executive order if you're strongly in favor of doing something?
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>> first of all, harry reid does not want to fwe through tgo thr gyrations on gun policy because frankly he comes from nevada. harry reid has had a very high record from the nra, very high ranking from the nra. any of us who have been to nevada know that there is a very big gun culture there and the other surrounding states. frankly, the two senators from nevada and idaho where there is great gun culture have just as much votes as the two senators from california or from some other northeastern states. and i think it's important that the white house listen to some of these voices coming from some of the more rural areas like an idaho, like a nevada, because they vote, too. and we need to make them part of the debate. i've been very concerned to -- sorry. >> they'll clearly be listened to. that's not the point. the issue is how you build consensus for real gun -- >> have you seen folks from out
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west from the rural areas be part of the debates on the sunday shows? >> absolutely. ? i've seen a lot of urban mayor, but not the folks from the west. gr then you should listen up to what center joe manchin had to say from west virginia where he had the courage to say he recognized the need to review these issues of gun safety measure hes or senator warner from virginia or senator casey from pennsylvania. >> they are all from the east coast. my question is have you heard anybody from the midwest talk about it? >> absolutely. senator tester from montana has weighed in on the issue, as well. the point is these are senators from strong nra states. and they understand the need to address this issue. >> and that's why harry reid doesn't want to take it on because he is from a strong nra state because in las vegas, they are have christmas wreathes made
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out of bullet casings. i saw it when i was there in december. >> but the point simply is this -- >> harry reid has a local skin in the game. >> sadly we have to wrap this up, but i hope -- >> carol, if i can -- >> i got go. >> grneorge herbert walker bushs a great man. >> agree on that. >> me, too. robert zimmerman, and that navarro, thank you so much. gun control activists take on walmart. a rally begins just minutes from now urging the nation's biggest gun retailer to stop selling assault weapons. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day
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just want to make it clearer. we've been telling you president obama is looking at using administrative action to fight gun violence. cnn has learned the president would use 19 executive orders to get his plan started. including appointing a director to the atf, the agency in charge of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, and more sharing of mental health data between federal agencies. the president's plan would also exclude legislative action. one possibility is an assault weapons ban. another is limiting the capacity of magazines. the president may also ask congress to expand the background checks to include all private gun purchases. president obama could announce his plan as early as tomorrow. we'll keep you posted. supporters of stronger gun control laws are having a rally outside a walmart in dan bury,
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connecticut, just minutes from newto newtown. deborah feyerick is there to tell us more. >> reporter: you can see the walmart behind me. what stands out is it says market, hope and pharmacy, there's also a crowd of people who have gathered. they are small, but very determined. they want to give a petition to walmart saying they should stop selling military style assault weapons. some of those who have come here today, roxana green, pam simon, lori haas, and adam, your daughter was shot at virginia tech, you were shot in arizona and you lost your daughter at the shooting at gabby giffords. tell me why you've decided to can here today about. >> we don't think military style weapons should be sold at a family department store. you go to walmart with your kids and your family members to buy household items and the toy section, the stroller section, and then you look over and there is all these assault weapons of mass destruction.
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it's just not right. >> when you think about the availability and the accessibility of weapons, it's not just walmart, it's online, as well. why single out walmart? >> well, the bullets that were shot in my chest came from a walmart. and they were purchased much more easily than you can by sudafed or splay cans of paint. so it just makes sense that we need to rethink this and really it's a family friendly store. it's not a place for assault rifles. there is no place in our society for assault rifles. >> lori, your daughter also was shot at virginia tech. tell me how important do you think legislation is going to get passed? >> yes, i absolutely do. i think the time is thousand. the time has been now for a long time. we see these mass shootings, almost all of them take place with a high capacities magazine.
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and assault weapon. those military grade weapons designed for one person. people killing. and now they're killing our children. and we must stop this. all communities deserve to be safe from gun violence. all communities. >> lori, pam, roxana, thank you so much. again, a small group behind me, because very determined group. they want to make sure that something positive comes from all the tragedies that have been going on throughout the country. and just so we can note, this particular walmart does not sell the military style assault weapons. but walmart began putting them in more of their stores, a business decision to boost sales a couple years ago. >> all right. deborah feyerick, reporting live from dan democratbury, connecti. testing is an important part of the learning possible. but seattle teachers are saying no to the mandated standardized test. when you have diabetes...
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nasa and noaa will release their findings on global p temperatures. we already know 2012 was the warmest year on record. a new record was also set worldwide. it will further stoke concern over climate change. florida a&m university says it's indefinitely postponed this morning's news conference about a new band director.
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from pop quizzes for final exam, teachers love tests. but in one seattle area school district, the teachers are saying no, they will not give a district mandated standardized test for the good of the students. jesse, a history teacher in seattle, welcome. >> thank you, carol. and let me say go bulldogs. >> i'll take that. the test itself, your particular school district mandates kids take these tests why? >> well, they mandate the test because they say that it's a tool that we can use to show student growth, but the courageous teachers at garfield high school have said that they're going to refuse to give this test and they've been met with overwhelming support and solidarity. the garfield high school ptsa voted to support us. the student body government voted to support us. and yesterday we got pizza
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september to us during lunchtime from a school in florida, flowers coming in, we finished off with chocolates from another school district. so i think there's a lot of schools around the country that have been put under this testing and testing and more testing regime that has really served i think the interests of corporate driven so-called reform movement in education. and so many people are happy to see that garfield high school is standing up and pushing back and saying education should be much more than just testing. >> is there a fear that kids won't be able to pass these tests? i mean, how is it harmful to students? >> well, that's not really the fear at all. i think there's so many things that are deeply flawed about this specific test. first of all, the test was brought to us under an utter scandal. former superintendent john so that sat on the board of the
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company that made the test and sells the test that we adopted in the seattle public schools for over $4 million. and it's not me who has a problem with that but it was actually the state auditor came in and found that to be a, quote, ethics violation. so garfield high school teachers are saying we're not going to administer an ethics violation. but more than that, what we're worried about with this test is that, one, it's not aligneded to our curriculum. so the math teachers tell me that there's questions on the ninth grade math portion that aren't taught until 10th or 11th grade. and other teachers are telling us hasn't been aligned to our curriculum. what's worse, there's really nothing tied to the test for students. no graduation requirement or grade tied to it, but there is something tied to teachers' evaluations. so students often just try to rush you the test, sometimes they race each other, because there's nothing tied to them, but then it can end up negatively impacting a teacher
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evaluation. and let me just say that teachers at garfield high school are not against accountability. we definitely want more accountability. and we want to be able to show our student growth. it's just that this is not a tool we can use to show student growth because it's not properly aligned to our curriculum. we want to replace this test -- some of my colleagues want to replace the test with a better standardized test. but many of us like myself think we have too many tests and we should move towards things like portfolio based assignments where you gather data over time and then you're actually showing the skills that are being taught in your very class room. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. talk back question today. can lance armstrong redeem himself? your responses next. etes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly
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talk back question, from sean, no, he can't re deem himself. he cheated and lied in one of the biggest scams ever. from zachary, america love as comeback kid. lance will be back on top. and this, absolutely not. lance arm strong is fraud. he's a cheater. he'll neff never be viewed from
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anything. and kimberly says he has given more than he ever took from society. keep the conversation going. thank you so much for joining me today. cnn newsroom with ashleigh banfield after a break. f the ne, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.